A spokesperson says---
"... The American Classical Orchestra (ACO) begins its 42ndseason with a concert led by Founder and Artistic Director Thomas Crawford ... at Alice Tully Hall. ... period instrument orchestra provides a ... opportunity for audiences to hear masterworks on such original instruments as valveless horns, gut strings, and wooden flutes. The opening program presents Haydn’s "Lord Nelson" Mass in D minor with ... soprano Shelén Hughes Camacho in her ACO debut, along with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 ... continuing the Orchestra’s performance cycle of all nine symphonies begun last season to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death..."
"....Haydn wrote this ... choral work in 1798 with the title Missa in Angustiis, or "Mass for Troubled Times,” as Napoleon’s forces were threatening much of Europe, including the composer’s native Austria. In honor of British Admiral Horatio Nelson’s defeat of Napoleon that year in the Battle of the Nile, the mass eventually took on its more familiar nickname “Lord Nelson.” The performance spotlights the young Bolivian soprano Shelén Hughes Camacho ... in her ACO debut. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 marks the beginning of a new musical path with sudden harmonic shifts and the use of sforzandi accents. ACO’s performances of the First, Fourth, and Fifth Symphonies ... offer NYC’s only opportunity to hear these works ... on period instruments, as Beethoven intended for his first audiences..."
